Royal Bank Of Canada Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Affirm (NASDAQ:AFRM) Stock

Affirm (NASDAQ:AFRM) had its price target boosted by investment analysts at Royal Bank Of Canada from $80.00 to $96.00 in a report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “sector perform” rating on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 13.29% from the stock’s previous close.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Affirm from $90.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Affirm in a research note on Friday. Compass Point set a $100.00 price objective on shares of Affirm in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Oppenheimer set a $104.00 price objective on shares of Affirm in a research report on Friday. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $90.00 target price on shares of Affirm in a research note on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have assigned a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $96.81.

Affirm Trading Up 9.4%

Shares of AFRM stock traded up $7.25 on Friday, hitting $84.74. The company had a trading volume of 7,974,152 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,199,860. Affirm has a twelve month low of $42.10 and a twelve month high of $100.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.39, a quick ratio of 11.32 and a current ratio of 11.32. The firm has a market cap of $28.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 77.04, a P/E/G ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 3.71. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $77.37 and its two-hundred day moving average is $64.50.

Affirm (NASDAQ:AFRM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 27th. The company reported $4.62 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by $4.27. Affirm had a return on equity of 11.17% and a net margin of 9.63%.The company had revenue of $1.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.11 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.20 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Affirm will post 1.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Affirm news, COO Michael Linford sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.04, for a total value of $8,004,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 117,984 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,443,439.36. The trade was a 45.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 11.01% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Affirm

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its stake in shares of Affirm by 7,715.3% in the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 29,932,275 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,440,977,000 after acquiring an additional 29,549,277 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Affirm during the fourth quarter worth $281,961,000. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in Affirm by 294.2% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,333,691 shares of the company’s stock worth $316,706,000 after purchasing an additional 3,234,260 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its holdings in Affirm by 11,042.3% in the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 2,161,278 shares of the company’s stock worth $157,004,000 after purchasing an additional 2,141,881 shares during the period. Finally, Atreides Management LP increased its stake in Affirm by 543.3% in the second quarter. Atreides Management LP now owns 1,977,882 shares of the company’s stock valued at $136,751,000 after purchasing an additional 1,670,429 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.29% of the company’s stock.

Key Affirm News

Here are the key news stories impacting Affirm this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Strong operating performance: Affirm reported 33% year-over-year revenue growth, 36% gross merchandise volume growth and a 49% increase in adjusted operating income. Expanding margins, stable credit performance and a 103-basis-point decline in funding costs to 5.8% supported profitability. Affirm: Ignore The Ludicrous $1.6 Billion, Own The Real Story
• Positive Sentiment: Headline earnings beat estimates: Fiscal fourth-quarter EPS was $4.62 versus consensus estimates of roughly $0.33-$0.35, compared with $0.20 a year earlier. The earnings release and related coverage also pointed to better-than-expected GMV and continued momentum in the BNPL business. Affirm Stock Jumps After Earnings
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst support improved: BMO Capital Markets raised its price target to $101 and assigned an outperform rating, while Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed its overweight rating with an $88 target. Morgan Stanley also increased its target to $80, although it maintained an equal-weight rating.
• Positive Sentiment: International expansion: Affirm and Shopify launched Shop Pay Installments in Australia, extending Affirm’s exclusive partnership to another market and potentially broadening transaction volume over time. Affirm and Shopify launch Shop Pay Installments in Australia
• Neutral Sentiment: Fiscal 2027 outlook: First-quarter revenue guidance of approximately $1.2 billion was broadly in line with consensus, limiting the possibility of a major near-term forecast surprise.
• Negative Sentiment: Quality of the EPS beat is a concern: The unusually large GAAP profit primarily reflected a one-time tax allowance release rather than recurring earnings power. Revenue of $1.07 billion also fell short of the approximately $1.11 billion analyst estimate, making underlying operating metrics more important to investors.
• Negative Sentiment: Valuation and mixed ratings: With a high earnings multiple and a recent Zacks downgrade from strong buy to hold, some investors may question whether the operational gains are fully reflected in AFRM’s valuation.

About Affirm

Affirm Holdings, Inc is a financial technology company that provides point-of-sale consumer lending and payments solutions for online and in-store purchases. Its core product is a buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) platform that enables consumers to split purchases into fixed, transparent installment loans with no hidden fees. Affirm offers a range of financing options through merchant integrations, a consumer-facing mobile app and virtual card capabilities, and tools for merchants to offer alternative payment methods at checkout.